A Confusing Day
Tony Stark came in to the coffee shop every day and Loki could’ve sworn that the strange man had a different pair of sunglasses with their odd colored lenses each one of those days. One day they’d be purple, the next orange or perhaps blue. And each day, the sunglasses were coordinated to match whatever he’d chosen to wear that day.
“Good morning,” Tony said as he came in for his morning coffee. Another thing; the man was punctual. He came in at the same time each day, 9:15 a.m., and ordered the same thing, though Loki supposed that was what most people did when they liked something.
Loki already had the coffee ready. Tony set a ten dollar bill on the counter with a smile and a wink.
“Keep the change,” the man said, just as he had for the past four days.
“Come now, if you keep this up you won’t have any money left,” he teased, a smile lighting his features.
Tony laughed and Loki discovered, not for the first time, that he enjoyed Tony’s laugh more than he thought he could possibly enjoy another man’s laugh. It wasn’t necessarily the fact that it was a cute laugh (and it certainly was), but more because it was a true laugh. And slightly adorable, but he wouldn’t get into details. When Tony laughed, his nose would wrinkle adorably and he’d squeeze his eyes shut, dimples completely lighting his features. And then his head would duck slightly before he’d throw it back, and Loki wondered if that was how the man laughed for everyone, or just him.
As Tony walked out the door, he called behind him,
“See you tomorrow, Loki!”
Loki smiled fondly after him and shook his head, gazing down at the ten dollar bill before putting it in the register.
“You like him,” Natasha spoke up suddenly, gazing at him with her sharp green eyes (that were more amused than her face let on).
“I do not,” he said defensively because he certainly did not like Tony Stark. Enjoyed his company and his laugh, perhaps, but he did not like the man. Not how Natasha was thinking, at least.
“You really are a terrible liar.”
“I am not,” he replied even as he folded the leftover bills into his pocket.
“You really are,” Natasha disagreed immediately, an amused, slightly wicked and somewhat gentle look in her eyes. Loki had discovered that was, perhaps, how she looked at people she would consider friends, seeing as how when she had first met Stark, she’d stared him down like a predator observing its prey.
Before Loki could protest, the door swung open, making the annoying bell ring until the damn door closed.
“Hey Nat?” the stranger in the purple shirt asked.
“I already told you, I’m not going to that ridiculous gala with you!” she said in exasperation, throwing her hands in the air like she’d already discussed this many, many times with him.
“Oh, c’mon!” the man whined, jumping up and settling his ass on the counter as if it belonged there.
“Clint, we’ve talked about this. At least seventeen times.”
“Pleaaaaase?”
“Pardon me,” Loki cut in. “But what gala are you begging this woman to go with you to?”
Clint huffed but answered obligingly.
“One of the charity gala’s that Stark Industries hosts every year. They actually do a lot of them.”
“Stark…?” Loki asked, raising a brow.
“Yeah, that’s sort of what I just said?” Clint replied questioningly, giving Loki this “are you stupid or should I just speak slower?” look.
“Tony is his not-boyfriend,” Natasha supplied rather unhelpfully. Clint turned wide eyes back onto Loki.
“You’re almost dating Tony Stark?!” he exclaimed, looking about two seconds away from jumping up and down and squealing.
“No!” Loki protested immediately. It was just coffee and friendly conversation. And sometimes flirtatious looks. And maybe unresolved sexual tension. But that was it. Besides, the man was borderline infuriating and completely narcissistic. Loki would never date someone who thought (perhaps literally) that the world revolved around them.
“You’re a terrible liar,” Clint said, unimpressed.
“That’s what I said,” Natasha agreed, smiling smugly at Loki.
Loki huffed and threw his towel onto the ground, stomping over to one of the oversized, puffy purple chairs and plopping down in it.
“Ooh, you’re so cute when you pout,” Natasha said, a smile still in her voice. “You’re just upset because your boyfriend hasn’t asked you to come with him yet.”
Hm, yes, why hasn’t Stark asked me yet?
Loki blinked and shook his head, shaking the thought away. There was no possible way to know that Tony would ask him.
But, he thought, shrugging to himself. Life has a way of making things work out. And if this doesn’t work out, it was never meant to be.
Ha, as if he’d ever believed that.
*
The next hours inched by just as slowly and agonizingly as they always did and he played his part just as well as he normally did; smile, take the order of the customer, engage in friendly conversation while making their coffee, bid them farewell, repeat. Today, there had been a rather nasty man who’d insisted Natasha sleep with him, and even offered her money to do so when she refused. His girlfriend had been standing beside him, sneering at Natasha as if she had some obligation to sleep with her boyfriend, as if it was a completely normal thing to do. It was the terribly inappropriate groping of her breasts that finally did it. Both Clint (who’d stayed the rest of the day) and Loki had been prepared to kick the sorry son of a bitches ass, but Natasha had been the one to do it; one well aimed punch to the jaw and an extremely painful looking heeled boot to the groin and both he and his girlfriend had left with the knowledge that the cops would be called immediately if they ever came back…once Natasha had finished with them. They didn’t return that day.
Loki collapsed on the couch when he returned home, debating taking a shower to rid of the coffee smell but decided against it; today had been a long day, much longer than usual (or so it seemed) but then, he supposed it was mostly his own fault, and maybe a bit of Natasha and Clint’s. He’d spent the day pondering why Stark hadn’t asked him, why he wanted Stark to ask him and whether or not Stark would ask him.
And then he’d mentally slapped himself for being so ridiculous and got back to work.
So here he was now, acting as if he’d just run a marathon, staring out the rather large window at the beach; it would have made a gorgeous photo. The sun was just beginning to set, casting everything in hues of reds, pinks and oranges. The impossibly blue water was lapping gently at the golden sand, white foam stretching up whenever the water did. It was much too tempting.
Changing out of his work clothes and into jeans and a simple emerald button up, he went downstairs and through his backyard, loving the feel of the grass beneath his feet, and opened the gate in his fence that led to the beach. Stepping into the soft sand was much better than the squishiness of the damp grass. It was peaceful, quiet. No one was out, as it was so late. Walking closer to the ocean, he absently noted the sound of a dog barking in the distance but didn’t pay much attention to it. Not bothering to roll up his jeans and immensely grateful for his choice to forgo shoes, he stepped into the water; it was cold, but not cold enough to shock and it felt absolutely wonderful. Closing his eyes, he took everything in- the wind brushing his hair back gently from his shoulders, the smell of salt in the air, the soft sound of the waves touching the sand, the cool of the water around his ankles. He wiggled his toes a bit, burying them in the sand with a content smile. This was why he’d moved here those four years ago.
The dog barked again, much closer this time, followed by someone yelling, making Loki’s eyes pop open. That, however, was not why he moved here.
Looking around for whoever had interrupted his peace, he spotted two shadowed figures, one a person and the other a dog. The dog was running forward, towards Loki like his life depended on it, tripping over its own feet while the man, who was quite a ways back, was running just as quickly after the dog, yelling “Rocket, get back here you bastard!” and flailing his arms a bit. It took an embarrassingly long about of time to realize that the dog was not going to stop when he got to Loki. So embarrassingly long, in fact, that he hadn’t any time to react before he was barreled into by the dog. His arms wind-milling, he was unable to stop himself from falling on his ass in the water and sand. With an indignant yelp, he jumped up and away from the water because it was certainly colder when it was touching anything but his feet. The dog yipped happily and ran circles around Loki. It took a moment to realize just whose dog that was; Tony Stark’s. Of course it had to be his. The devil himself came running up a moment later, huffing and puffing as if he’d been chasing Rocket around for hours.
“Shit,” the man huffed. “I’m sorry. Damn dog took off as soon as we got here.” Tony clapped him on the shoulder in apology before seeming to realize who he was “Oh! Loki, hey.” The man laughed at his own stupidity. “Long time no see, eh?” He winked.
“Hello, Tony,” Loki responded in greeting, smiling at the man because dammit, he was too adorable not to. Rocket was sitting at Loki’s side contently, as if his life’s work had just been completed. Looking suspiciously at the dog, Loki continued, “What are you doing out here so late?”
“Late?” The man laughed again. “It’s only, like, eight o’clock!” And okay, Loki supposed that wasn’t really late at all. “To answer your question, though, I come out here every night. It’s…quiet. And Rocket loves to run…he also loves the water so really, the beach is a great place for him. Question is, though, what are you doing out here?”
“Same as you,” Loki replied. “It’s quiet…peaceful.”
Tony nodded in understanding and watched Rocket for a moment before turning his eyes to Loki.
“So….I’m sure you’ve heard by now, but I’m hosting a charity gala. I’m not sure what charity it’s for, ‘cause my CEO makes all the plans and she would kill me if I didn’t do at least one a year, but I was wondering if you wanted to come with me? We could go as a couple or just as friends, you know, whatever you’d prefer.” Tony actually sounded nervous, like he had the first time they’d met and, from what Loki had learned of the man the past four days, it was beyond odd.
Here it was, the big question and here Loki was, staring like an idiot because he hadn’t a clue what to say.
“I….” Loki began, but trailed off, still unsure of what his answer would be.
“I understand,” Tony said immediately, looking rather put out. “I know, I’m sort of a narcissistic asshole. Well, I guess if you change your mind, it’s not until Saturday and you know where I live.” The man gazed at the ground for a moment, something almost….regretful passing through his deep brown gaze before he looked at Loki again and smiled, all traces of anything other than happiness disappearing just as fast as they’d come.
“Rocket!” the man yelled and the dog in question, who was busy playing in the water, tilted his head up and ran back over to Tony.
The pair left then, and Loki let them, watching as they went through the fence to Tony’s house and wondering silently just how badly he’d messed things up.